Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley has been photographed in an Aston Villa strip for the first time after completing his loan move to Villa Park.

The England international has arrived for the season, although it has been reported that United have the option to take him back to Old Trafford in January or for Paul Lambert’s side to sign him permanently in the same transfer window.

Cleverley has made 79 appearances for Manchester United, scoring five goals and providing eight assists in that time.

He has also enjoyed previous loan spells at Watford, Wigan Athletic and Leicester City.

Big things were expected of the now-25-year-old when he first broke through at United, but he has failed to kick on in recent times and it will be interesting to see how he performs when given a more prominent role at Villa.

He certainly has the ability, but whether he can ultimately force Louis van Gaal into a rethink remains to be seen.

Not that Villa fans will be complaining; they have signed a player with bags of ability and a desire to prove the doubters wrong.

Vincent Ralph

After graduating with a degree in English Literature, Vincent completed a NCTJ-accredited qualification in newspaper and magazine journalism in 2005. Shortly after, in a somewhat leftfield move, he began working at a secondary school in Kent. After eight years – the last four of which were spent as Head of Sixth Form – he began to write full-time, combining his love of football with his passion for the written word.Alongside his work for HITC Sport, he also writes film reviews for HITC Lifestyle… along with the odd music interview when fate allows.